On January 12th, President Obama gave his State of the Union address. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to see several SOTU speeches and this time, the message from Barack Obama was quite unusual. If I had to describe it in two words, I would say it was (1) vague and (2) empty. Given the events that the country and the world witnessed this past year, it was obvious the President ignored national and international matters of vital importance while giving his speech.
Below, I will discuss 14 matters President Obama misinformed or did not mention in his last State of the Union.
1. Obamacare
Obama’s health reform was basically an expansion of Medicaid. According to the President, 18 million people got health insurance due to Obamacare. The reality is different, Obama did not mention that millions of insurances were cancelled, that many doctors had to change or sell their practices, and that millions of patients lost their doctors. Also, the President did not make any comment on the increased cost of health insurances and the impact of Obamacare on the unemployment rate. Currently, costs are higher in 49 of the 50 States (Mississippi is the only exception).
Barack Obama failed to tell the country that 900 billion dollars was removed from Medicare to implement Obamacare. Worst of all, due to the problems and costs related to Obamacare, more than 30 million people were left without health insurance. Moreover, the President has said that Obamacare has provided more care and benefits for troops and veterans. This is not true. The VA hospitals have suffered under the current administration. Veterans have to wait months before receiving medical attention and Obama did not report that hundreds of Veterans died waiting to be seen. He neither mentioned the high rate of suicide that currently affects veterans.
2. Cuba
Obama said he improved the quality of life for the Cuban people, I doubt Cubans agree. There can’t be improvement in the life of any human being while there is no freedom. The dictatorial repression of the Castro brothers has not changed. The President did not mention that the Communist regime has arrested many dissidents after the United States re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba. In this regard, the Obama administration has done absolutely nothing to restore human rights on the island. The President asked for the abolition of the embargo on Cuba, while ignoring the need for democracy and free elections.
3. Christian Persecution
The President ignored the atrocities committed against Christians. Obama did not say a word about the burning of churches and the persecution and extermination of Christians in Africa or the Middle East. Instead, he gave Americans a lesson on manners. Obama said: “when politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, that doesn’t make us safer”. Reports last year revealed that Christians are at risk of extinction in some areas in the Middle East. In fact, every five minutes a Christian is killed. Apparently, to Barack Obama, this news is irrelevant. The President had the opportunity to denounce the most extreme genocide of Christians in the modern time, but he didn’t.
4. Planned Parenthood
Obama always paints himself as a protector of children, while at the same time supports all actions of Planned Parenthood. The President completely ignored the crimes of aborted babies committed by this organization; I imagine these lives and future children do not need the protection of the President. Lets remember that Barack Obama is the only President who gave a speech at Planned Parenthood, saying: “May God bless Planned Parenthood”.
5. Kim Davis
Obama spoke about the rule of law but did not say a word about the imprisonment of Kim Davis. Davis was sent to prison for refusing to sign marriage certificates for same-sex couples. I presume for the current administration thereâs nothing wrong with imprisoning a person under such circumstances. In fact, Obama was silent during the arrest of Kim Davis. Obviously, for the President, the case of Ms. Davis does not represent a violation of the rule of law. For many Americans the Obama Administration has been characterized by constant attacks on freedom of religion.
6. The Islamic State
The President told us that his administration has launched 10,000 airstrikes against the Islamic State. However, he did not mention that 75% of those attacks could not be conducted. We now know that often, pilots do not receive the authorization required to conduct airstrikes. That information was released thanks to pilots who returned to their bases after thwarted air missions in Iraq and Syria. In this regard, I’d like to ask a question: would it actually be possible for a terrorist organization to continue operating after 10,000 military airstrikes?
7. San Bernardino and Paris
The President opted not to discuss recent terrorist attacks in his speech. He ignored the massacre in San Bernardino, California, despite the fact that it was the worst terrorist attack in the United States âȘafter 9/11. The President had the opportunity to pay tribute to the victims and families, but did not. Not a word about the tragic event was spoken. It is worth it to remember that one of the terrorists in San Bernardino entered the country through a visa program created by the Obama administration. Obama also failed to mention the recent terrorist attack in Paris, the worst ever perpetrated in France.
8. The Refugees
The President persists on his idea of relocating thousands of Muslim refugees from the Middle East to the United States. Obama continues to ignore warnings about the potential risk of terrorist attacks. Several representatives of the Administration have stated that it is virtually impossible to monitor such a number of refugees. During the speech, the President decided not to mention the fact that the mastermind behind the recent terrorist attack in Paris was a Muslim refugee. Also, not a word was spoken about the recent sexual assaults towards hundreds of women in several European cities. Obama also didn’t explain the reason why the majority of the refugees he is bringing to the country are Muslims, not Christians. To date, Americans don’t know with certainty who the refugees are, where they come from or anything about their background. Obama has also failed to report how the Administration intends to cover costs related to transportation and the stay of thousands of refugees in the United States.
9. Economy
In his speech, Barack Obama described a picture of great economic recovery. This is far from truthful; the modern labor force in the U.S. is at the lowest level since 1977. Obama also ignored the fact that the use of food stamps has increased significantly during his administration (20 million more than before the recession); more so, there is a persistently high rate of unemployment among Hispanics, blacks and young people. Other issues that the President ignored were the diminished annual income for American families and the deterioration of the standard of living seen in Hispanics and blacks in recent years. Obama also said that he has decreased the debt by three-quarters. The reality is totally different. At the present time, the country’s debt is approaching the 19 trillion dollar mark. Regarding the so-called success of the Obama presidency, I have another question: If this economic success is real, why are almost 47 million people currently receiving food stamps in the United States. Obama accused Wall Street of causing the financial crisis in 2007, but he rescued the same banks with billions of taxpayerâs dollars. It is important to remember that Wall Street was one of the main donors of the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama.
10. Radical Islamic Terrorism
The President has ignored and minimized the growing threat of Islamic terrorism for 7 years. Since Obama became President, during every State of the Union speech, he has refused to recognize the existence of radical Islam. The last speech was no exception. A recent study showed that the number one concern for Americans in 2015 was terrorism. According to the FBI, there are currently hundreds of suspected cases of terrorism under investigation. There were 13 Islamic terrorist attacks/plots in the United States in 2015. So, Barack Obama had yet another opportunity to recognize and denounce all these facts, but he failed once again. Further, Obama called the Islamic State a handful of terrorists, but ignored the fact that the terrorist group has enrolled more than 30,000 militants and has been able to recruit supporters in more than 70 countries.
11. The Sailors
A day before the President’s speech, News reported that two United States military ships had been captured by Iran. In an act of disrespect by the Iranian regime, the sailors were photographed and filmed on their knees and with their hands up. Despite the humiliation of American sailors shown on the Internet, Barack Obama did not mention a word about the embarrassing incident. When was the last time the world witnessed similar images? In every State of the Union, the President has ignored violations of international rules and the anti-American propaganda of the Iranian regime. Instead, Obama praised the nuclear deal with Iran, the only country in the world where its leaders publicly shout “death to America.”
12. Guantanamo
According to Barack Obama, the containment of terrorists in Guantanamo facilitates the recruitment of more terrorists, therefore, they should be released. At the time of this writing, Obama decided to release other 10 terrorists. Some belonging to the inner circle of Osama Bin Laden, among them was Muhammad Rahman al – Shumrani. In October of 2007 Al – Shumrani said to the Guantanamo guards: “when I leave here I’ll go back to Iraq and Afghanistan and kill as many Americans as possible, and then I will return here to kill more”. Several reports have revealed that a considerable number of prisoners return to terrorist activities. Despite the available information about the released prisoners and Al – Shumrani, Obama decided to let them go and said nothing about it. It is worth mentioning that the President has never confirmed his assertion regarding a correlation between recruitment of terrorists and the GuantĂĄnamo prison.
13. Foreign Policy
When it comes to foreign policy, the President ignored the main problems the United States currently faces. Obama did not make any comment about Chinaâs expansion into the seas of Asia, omitted to mention the growing influence of Russia in Crimea, Ukraine and the Middle East, and didn’t say a word about the deterioration of the relations with Israel. He also ignored the anti-American posture and the growing terrorist activities that Iran has engaged in the last few years. In addition, the President said nothing about the declining role of the United States in the Middle East and the distrust that the Administration has created in allied countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. After all, it is no surprise that several countries in the Middle East have reached out to Israel and Russia due to the vacuum left by the United States. Under the supervision of Barack Obama, the Middle East is a disaster, several countries have fallen into chaos and Islamic terrorism has emerged to levels never seen before.
14. Money
Obama said: “We have to reduce the influence of money in our politics, to prevent a small number of families and hidden interests to finance our elections” This was one of the greatest hypocrisies Obama mentioned in the State of the Union. During his campaign in 2008 Barack Obama collected more money than any presidential candidate in history. The President did not mention his connections and shared agendas with anti-American leftist billionaire George Soros. It is surprising that Obama complains of wealthy families seeking to influence the electoral process, but at the same time he named Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The President also hid the fact that during the election campaign of 2012, he collected more money from Wall Street than all Republican candidates combined.
Conclusion:
The President’s State of Union was more like demagoguery. Barack Obama was unable to provide substantial information based on the main problems that affect the United States and the world. The President ignored or minimized serious national and international issues while exaggerating the role and the success of the Administration in combating such problems. Under any realistic parameter, Obama has not had the success that he claims. The evidence is clear and the polls are the best proof. America is in decline. After 7 years of the current administration and its attempt to fundamentally transform this country, the majority of Americans think that the US is heading down the wrong path and the American dream is on its way to extinction. I suppose it is not a surprise that this latest State of the Union had the lowest audience reported in the last 15 years.
